Justin, you’ve got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em

The hardest thing in sport?

Harder even than picking a wrong’un, winning the Bledisloe, getting Wayne Bennett to crack it for a smile, and breaking Ash Barty’s serve when she is on a roll?

It is, surely, knowing when your time is up. The number of sports champions who can look back on a sporting career and say they got the time of their exit exactly right can probably be counted on the fingers of one finger.

And, say, on the subject of Tom Brady, surely, given his time over, he might have instead chosen to go out after winning last year’s Super Bowl, not now when he missed it by that much?

Which brings us to Justin Langer and whether he should continue in the role as Australian cricket coach. As you know, this is the question facing Cricket Australia in the last few days, with credible reports coming in that Langer has blown a gasket at the very idea that he might not be re-appointed to another four-year term and insisting he won’t even countenance the possibility of a short-term contract.

Is Cricket Australia wrong to pull back from renewing the contract of someone who was facing a near-mutiny from his team only six months ago, now that he and the side have won the Ashes in thumping fashion and all?

Of course they’re not.

Where is the evidence that the dynamic driving that mutiny is no longer there?

Let’s take an overview of the whole situation.

Over the decades, my favourite non-story of the lot – the one I would never read, let alone write – is when a coach is under pressure for lack of results, and one of his players says “I back him, I think he’s really great, and we are just about to turn the corner.”

Gee, really?

Well, who’da thunk it?

Player Backs Current Boss is not a story – even though we have seen a thousand versions of it over the years.

A story is when a player lets it be known that the time has come for the struggling coach to move on, that this team ain’t big enough for both of us, and the coach is stinking up the joint.

Hold the back page!

And so what is remarkable about the current situation with Langer?

It is the fact that, despite just winning the Ashes, we haven’t had a single member of the Australian cricket team speaking up and saying anything remotely supportive of Langer!

Not one!

There is the story.

Which now moves Langer into two unprecedented situations.

Firstly, when has the successful coach of an Australian Ashes-winning side, had to fight to keep his job?

And when an Australian cricket coach is under threat, have we EVER seen nary a single Australian cricketer step forward in support?

Does it tell you something?

Is it not obvious that the team really do want a change?

It would also explain the reluctance of Cricket Australia to appoint Langer to another four-year term. Why would they, if the team is already showing signs of being worn out by Langer’s sheer intensity after the past four years?

Of course, it makes sense to offer him a short-term contract only, to see just how he and the team might be able to make it work. But sign him to another four-year contract under the circumstances? It would have “massive payout after early termination,” written all over it.

This is not to say that Langer hasn’t done a good job. The Ashes results speak for themselves, even if it was against an English team so bad that by the end of the tour they were doing victory laps if they won anything so much as the toss. But intense coaches generally have limited shelf-lives, whatever the results.

Yes, Craig Bellamy is an obvious exception, but can you think of any others? A coach who has no off-button that anyone has ever been able to find, who just keeps going?

I can’t.

The bottom line for Langer is, he only has one option if he wants to keep the gig. That is to take the short-term contract and prove to your team that you have loosened up. Achieve victory in Pakistan over the Pakistani side by taking your foot off the accelerator, rather than going full throttle all the time.

Even then, from the sounds of it, the team will be unlikely to be falling over themselves to have you back, but it is the only chance you’ve got.

Better still?

Cash in your chips, mate.

You’re the successful coach of an Ashes-winning side. On the open cricket market, that feat has to be worth a lot, everywhere from England to India to South Africa. There is no shame in being an intense coach. The problem only comes when you stay beyond your natural time, and every sign we can see – admittedly from the outside – says that your time is up.

Go well, and good luck.

Twitter: @Peter_Fitz

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